Product Review:PPC Real Wheel Cleaner

B

bigcat39

New member
The backstory: My car is a 2004 Z06 Corvette. It has polished, uncoated alloy rims.

Due to life upheaval, I neglected my wheels for 5 months. I drive the crap outta my car, and use super aggressive Stoptech brake pads. To make a long story short, the wheels were coated with baked on brake dust plus road grime. And I mean truly baked on. The fronts had the texture of 400 sandpaper.

I tried everything I could think of. After a post here, I tried even more stuff. It laughed at Meg's Hot Wheels with 0000 steel wool. It gave a deep, rumbling chuckle to P21S gel, with NO improvement. I despaired, and started pricing new wheels.

Then, I came across a post describing Protective Products Corporation's Real Wheel Cleaner. I ordered a bottle @ $7.99. Didn't think too much about it ... in fact, didn't touch it for 3 weeks. Last weekend, I thought I would give it a shot. I sprayed it on the right front wheel, let it dwell for 1 minute as per directions (ya, I took pics first, can anyone help me with posting them????), and hosed it off....:getdown It worked! I did have to repeat, and scrub with 0000 SW, but they are metal colored, not black. The rears, no scrubbing was required

Please, someone help me post these pics!
 
Below the "Submit Reply" button there's another button titled "Manage Attachments". Give that a shot.



Congrats on the conquering the brake dust demon.
 
Where did you order it from? Have you ever tried it on normal dusty wheels? Does it require agitaiton if the wheels are cleaned every few weeks? TIA.
 
tom p. said:
PPC BEST





I've been using this stuff for about 10 years. Have had some long-term issues with it.
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Tom, Thanks for the link. Can you be more specific with the long term issues that you had with this product? Did it seem to be etching the clear coat on your wheels?



Thanks!
 
Yes, please detail the long term effects.

I'm not sure on the daily/weekly use thing, but I'll be finding out soon. I just ordered two more bottles.

FWIW, it didn't seem to affect my factory painted calipers... did clean 'em off, tho.

No CC here. As soon as I get 'em polished, I'm gonna coat w/Collonite Insulator wax, try that out for a while
 
No, no issues with dis-coloration.



This is some sort of acid based product yet the seller says there are no immediate health issues. There is a very strong caustic odor to the product.



Problems: I've bought this stuff by the gallon a number of times. Had been using it at 100%. He now sez to dilute 50% with water. The exact trouble I had was the product seems to be able to creep between the edge of the wheel and the lip of the tire bead causing leaks. I've had it happen on a couple of cars. Leaking was bad enough that I had to have the tire dis-mounted, wheel bead area ground down on a bench grinder and re-sealed with that goop the tire shops use. When the tire was removed from the wheel, a lot of white residue was quite apparent. I can assure you, it's not from my lack of thorough rinsing when using wheel cleaners.



All in all, this is a value-priced cleaner and it is effective. I'd put it in the same league with Meg's Wheel Brightener. I wasn't thrilled about the tire leaking issues.



The product might be phosphoric acid based...I don't recall the specifics but the owner was always willing to discuss the products he sells.



real_3101.jpg
 
bigcat39,



I have used PPC's Real Wheel Cleaner for about 16 years now, and it is the only thing I use on my vehicles. I have never had any issues like Tom mentioned with tire bead issues/leaks, and I have several friends who use it exclusively as well. A few of them operate detailing businesses, have used the product for over 10 years, and have not heard any complaints from them regarding product issues.



I must admit, though, that Tom did scare me a little. So I called PPC directly this morning and spoke to their lab tech. He assured me that there is absolutely no caustic in their wheel cleaner product. He also emphatically stated that there is no way the product can attack metal nor rubber, as there are no ingredients in the chemistry able to do so. He did state, however, that the product will dissolve all corrosion on the metal surface as specified on the product label.



I told him about the problem that Tom P. referenced regarding tire leaks, and he feels that, most likely, the problem stemmed from long-term corrosion that formed on the rims (i.e., red rust, white aluminum oxide, grey magnesium oxide, etc.) due to capillary action of H2O over time, thereby attacking the hidden metal. He said this corrosion issue is most prevalent in areas of the US where salt is used on roadways in the winter.



He asked me if I had seen signs of salt corrosion on the visible surfaces of any of my, or my friends, aluminum wheels. He stated these areas show up as black-ish or white-ish splotches on the rim surfaces. Yes, I have seen these splotchy areas he described. He told me that PPC has a specific procedure for complete removal of all these splotches, and that, upon request, anyone can receive a copy of this procedure which uses Real Wheel Cleaner and PPC’s EASY Aluminum Polish.



He made me feel a lot better, and I am confident you will be fine...
 
jetblackS550 said:
bigcat39,



I have used PPC's Real Wheel Cleaner for about 16 years now, and it is the only thing I use on my vehicles. I have never had any issues like Tom mentioned with tire bead issues/leaks, and I have several friends who use it exclusively as well. A few of them operate detailing businesses, have used the product for over 10 years, and have not heard any complaints from them regarding product issues.



I must admit, though, that Tom did scare me a little. So I called PPC directly this morning and spoke to their lab tech. He assured me that there is absolutely no caustic in their wheel cleaner product. He also emphatically stated that there is no way the product can attack metal nor rubber, as there are no ingredients in the chemistry able to do so. He did state, however, that the product will dissolve all corrosion on the metal surface as specified on the product label.



I told him about the problem that Tom P. referenced regarding tire leaks, and he feels that, most likely, the problem stemmed from long-term corrosion that formed on the rims (i.e., red rust, white aluminum oxide, grey magnesium oxide, etc.) due to capillary action of H2O over time, thereby attacking the hidden metal. He said this corrosion issue is most prevalent in areas of the US where salt is used on roadways in the winter.



He asked me if I had seen signs of salt corrosion on the visible surfaces of any of my, or my friends, aluminum wheels. He stated these areas show up as black-ish or white-ish splotches on the rim surfaces. Yes, I have seen these splotchy areas he described. He told me that PPC has a specific procedure for complete removal of all these splotches, and that, upon request, anyone can receive a copy of this procedure which uses Real Wheel Cleaner and PPC’s EASY Aluminum Polish.



He made me feel a lot better, and I am confident you will be fine...
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I'll always wonder what business relationship this poster has with the company discussed in this thread. His ONLY 2 posts at this forum focus on a single product :nervous: hmmmm.....
 
jetblackS550 said:
I must admit, though, that Tom did scare me a little. So I called PPC directly this morning and spoke to their lab tech. He assured me that there is absolutely no caustic in their wheel cleaner product. He also emphatically stated that there is no way the product can attack metal nor rubber, as there are no ingredients in the chemistry able to do so. He did state, however, that the product will dissolve all corrosion on the metal surface as specified on the product label.
Click to expand...





CHEMICAL PRODUCT AND COMPANY IDENTIFICATION



Product Name:REAL WHEEL CLEANER> PPC Cat. No. 14

Mfr's. Name and Address: Protective Products Corp., Box 246, Johnston, IA 50131

Product Use: Brake Dust and Corrosion Remover.

24-hr. Emergency Telephone: 1-888-772-1277

Information Telephone: 1-515-999-2999

Issue Date: 3-1-05

Prepared by: Dean Bibler



2. COMPOSITION/INFORMATION ON INGREDIENTS

Hazardous Components: Phosphoric Acid CAS #7664-38-2 <3%

2-Butoxyethanol CAS #111-76-2 <3%



3. HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION

HMIS and NFPA Hazard Ratings: HEALTH – 1, FLAMMABILITY – 0, REACTIVITY – 0

SKIN – Can cause irritation with prolonged contact.

EYES – Irritation and redness can occur.

INGESTION – Can cause nausea or other injury.

INHALATION – Can irritate mucous lining with excessive contact.
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http://autopia.org/forum/detailing-...ightener.html?highlight=phosphoric#post672466
 
Hmmmm Dunno. The label states that phosphoric acid is used to balance the pH of the product. Under 3% is pretty low normalcy.

BTW, I am NOT a shill, and have NEVER been to Iowa. I'm only happy that I found a product that made it possible for me to save $1400 on wheels. Not all acid is a bad thing.
 
The clear coat on my '96 4Runner rims is beginning to fail. Part of these wheels are smooth and part are textured. I am beginning to see corrosion that looks like 'squiggly' salt deposits running from the smooth-texture boundary onto the smooth area. At first I thought I must have driven through something. The deposits are grayish-white and in some places look like 'smeared' chewing gum.



Can anyone tell me if this cleaner is likely to remove these deposits?
 
Ordered and tried this on our BMW wheels, worked pretty good as I used it full strength. A few areas in the spokes required agitation. I also used it on the inner barrels of a porsche I did, it would not cut the old dust. I broke out the Poorboys Spray and Rinse and that cut the old brake dust fine. I prefer PB SnR. This product does not smell as strong as the PB SnR.
 
fondueski said:
Can anyone tell me if this cleaner is likely to remove these deposits?
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Let's ask "jetblacks500" for his opinion on whether the wheel cleaner will improve or make that common Toyota condition worse ;)
 
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